Manufacturing with Silicone Rubber: A Comprehensive Workshop (August 26 – 29)

The classroom instruction will take place Tuesday and Wednesday in the Training Room at ARDL, located at 75 Robinson Avenue in Barberton, Ohio.

The interactive sessions will take place Wednesday through Friday at RDAbbott’s Service Center, located at 25 Foundation Place in Barberton, Ohio. (Our facility is walking distance from ARDL.)

This training event will start at 8 AM on Tuesday, August 26, at ARDL, and will end at 12:30 PM on Friday, August 29, at RDAbbott’s Service Center. Except for Friday, each training day will end by 5:30 PM (ET).

Please note that Friday’s training is optional for any registrants desiring one-to-one time with the instructors and/or a deeper dive in processing development of silicone parts.

A more detailed agenda will be provided to all paid registrants closer to the event start date.

Bilal Rafiq, Business Development Manager of Dosing Pumps, Molds, and Turnkeys for ELMET North America, Inc.

Bilal Rafiq has a Mechanical Engineering bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and 9 years of LSR Processing and Technical Sales experience. He has worked in every aspect of the business from the mold design and maintenance, process conceptualization, product development, process set-up and optimization, automation, quality control, technical sales, and project management. He has now transitioned into a technical sales-oriented role with ELMET for the last 2 years to support customers across the Americas. He enjoys playing basketball, learning new topics in the sciences, and is a car enthusiast.

 

Bob Hershberger, Mixing & Compounding Manager for ARDL

Bob Hershberger has been part of the rubber industry for over 25 years. He started as a mill man at Polymerics Inc. in 1990 and quickly moved into a supervisory position. He attended classes at Akron University and became the plant manager of a silicone manufacturing facility. He has experience with mixing, milling, and molding all thermoset polymers. He consults on molding and mixing production improvements ranging from decreased cycle times, optimal mix, mold configuration and molding issues, including fouling, regrind, and other visual defects. He also provides assistance with start-up and prototype production molding processes.

 

Bob Pelletier, Business Development Manager of Dosing Pumps for ELMET North America, Inc.

Robert (Bob) Pelletier has over 30 years of experience in metered dosing pumps for LSR and third-stream additives. He has seen many generations of dosing pumps evolve and improve over time and has been a part of the ELMET team for 9 years leading new application implementations, processing improvements, and training customers across the Americas. His expertise in the fundamentals of LSR processing, to ensure a stable and optimal material utilization, is invaluable and he makes the educational experience enjoyable with his humorous and witty personality. He is a local to the Detroit area, so he is a huge Lions fan, and he always has great stories to share.

 

Bryce Maczko, Technical Sales for Sodick IMM by Plustech Inc.

Bryce Maczko has been at Plustech for a little over a year in the Technical Sales position. He oversees sales and distribution of high-performance Sodick injection molding machines in Western Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York territories.

 

Craig Lustek, LSR Application / Business Development Engineer for RDAbbott

Craig Lustek has more than 20 years of experience in process engineering, research and development, product management and manufacturing. Before joining RDAbbott, Craig was an Application Engineer for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of plastics injection molding machines (IMM). He has also worked as a Process Engineer for a supplier of silicone Liquid Injection Molding Machines (LIMs). As an RDAbbott Application Engineer, Craig shares his in-depth knowledge of LIMs by developing technical resources and procedures, defining optimal IMM processes and setups, consulting with customers, and training key personnel.

 

Jake Michaelson, Application Engineer for SIGMA Plastic Services, Inc.

Jacob (Jake) Michaelson is an Application Engineer at SIGMA Plastic Services, Inc., where he supports the integration and advancement of SIGMASOFT^® within the molding industry. With over 12 years of hands-on experience as a process engineer, Jake has built a diverse background across the medical, automotive, and power distribution industries, working with a wide range of materials and processes. He joined SIGMASOFT^® with a focus to bring hands-on experience and insight to help enhance the link to simulation.

 

Dr. Jason Poulton, Senior Technical Advisor for ARDL

Dr. Jason Poulton earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Indiana University. Jason adds 25 years of experience in the rubber industry to the ARDL team. He has held R&D and management roles at Ansell Healthcare and Bridgestone Americas. Jason’s experience includes compounding and production of synthetic and natural latex products; basic polymer research scale-up, and plant support; materials research; technology planning; passenger/light-truck tire development; compound development for passenger, light truck, truck/bus radial, agricultural and off-road tires; and laboratory testing and characterization of rubber materials. He has also provided independent consulting services to the rubber and plastics industry on a variety of topics, including industry trends, purchasing, raw material approval, and future outlook for value-added materials. He is listed as co-inventor on 30 U.S. patents and multiple foreign patents. Jason supports reverse engineering and failure/forensic analysis for a variety of rubber and plastic products to serve the diverse needs of ARDL’s customers.

 

Len Hampton, National Sales Manager for Sodick IMM by Plustech Inc.

With over 30 years of experience in the Plastics machinery industry,
Len Hampton is a seasoned sales leader and manufacturing operations expert. As the National Sales Manager at Sodick IMM by Plustech Inc. for over 19 years, Len oversees the sales and distribution of high-performance Sodick injection molding machines across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

 

Neil Lanterman, Quality Coordinator for NovationSi

In 1998, Neil Lanterman graduated from Youngstown State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. During his 25+ years in the rubber industry, Neil has held various Research & Development, Production, Quality Control, and Product Development positions, and has worked with most organic and inorganic rubber polymers, including: natural rubber, neoprene, EPDM, and silicones. When it comes to processing and testing rubber, Neil has a broad range of experience working on mills, Banbury’s, calenders, large presses, liquid coating towers, extruders, and rubber testing equipment. Throughout his rewarding career, Neil has collaborated in various stages of research, development and production with many industry-leading corporations, such as: Dow, Dupont, Bridgestone/Firestone, Kiswire, Bekaert, Solvay Solexis, Wacker, Hubner Group, JOY Mining, Kordsa, and Hyosung. Outside of work, Neil enjoys gardening and is a proud husband and father of three kids.

 

Nicki Hershberger, Vice President of Technical & Sales for ARDL

Nicki Hershberger has been developing rubber formulations for a wide array of polymer types and applications for over 20 years and has a great deal of experience with mixing, molding, extruding, and calendering rubber compounds. She worked as a Technical Director for a custom rubber mixing company for 15 years and spent four years as a Technical Sales Representative for a carbon black company. She has worked at ARDL for four years and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kent State University.

 

Rick A. Ziebell, Vice President of Technology and Technical Fellow for RDAbbott

Rick Ziebell has more than 35 years of experience in the rubber industry and has worked for both raw material suppliers and fabricators. He is a graduate of Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with advanced training in materials science and application studies in silicone technology from Dow Corning (now Dow). Rick has earned 10 compositional patents in silicone technology and is a published author of over 50 technical papers, presentations, and peer-reviewed articles. In affiliation with universities and societies focused on science and technology, Rick is passionate about applying his decades of elastomers experience through training and educating the next generation of rubber technologists.

 

Rob Bohland, Research and Development Manager for NovationSi

Rob Bohland’s career started over 25 years ago after playing Scrabble in a local establishment where Frank Manello, Co-Owner of Gayson SDI, was in attendance. This serendipitous moment sparked a prosperous career in color formulations, additives, dispersions, and heat stabilizers, which allowed him to collaborate with industry-leading companies like Gayson SDI, Colormatrix, Polyone/Avient, Dow, RDAbbott, Nusil, ShinEtsu, Wacker, Bluestar, ASI/GE/Momentive, Magnifoam, Freudenberg NOK, Tesla, Cri-Sil, and many others. Quite a distinguished career for a high-school graduate who turned down a conditional acceptance to MIT.

During the classroom instruction, registrants can expect to cover these topics and more:

• Silicone sources, uses, properties, and key processing characteristics
• Testing of HCR and LSR compounds, including physical, rheological, and analytical testing
• LSR characterization techniques for multi-point analysis and virtual modeling simulations
• Additive dispersion technologies and color-matching variables
• Injection molding, extrusion, compression and calendering fabrication methods, as well as mixing and milling of silicone rubber
• Silicone testing for characterization of uncured and cured properties
• Mold designs for critical LSR properties, automation, and turnkey applications.
• Modern pumping and dosing equipment, technologies, maintenance, and process parameters for LSR applications
• Attributes and construction of the LSR injection molding machine cell
• LSR molding process development and troubleshooting
• Case studies in the failure analysis of rubber and plastics

Registrants will also receive interactive training in RDAbbott’s and ARDL’s research and development laboratories and manufacturing facilities.

Featured materials, resources, and equipment during this training will include:

• Dow Performance Silicones
• DuPont™ Liveo™ Silicones
• NovationSi Modifiers, Additives, and Colors for Silicone
• SIGMASOFT^® Virtual Molding software
• ARDL Rubber Testing Equipment, Extruders, Compression and Transfer Molding Systems, and Calendering System
• Sodick V-LINE^® GL100 Injection Molding Machine by Plustech Inc.
• ENGEL ES 90TL Injection Molding Machine
• ELMET Top 700 Dosing System
• ELMET SMARTshot Valve-Gated Cold Runner System
• Kipe Molds 4-Drop, Valve-Gated Cold Runner System
• Alpha Technologies Rubber Testing Instruments and Software

On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 26, there is a special breakout session for attendees who would like more instruction about extrusions systems and manufacturing with HCR.

The cost to attend this workshop is $1700 per person if you register by August 8, 2025. The price increases to $2,000 on August 9, 2025.

Discounts are available for multiple registrants from the same organization. Please contact Ariana Marich at ariana.marich@rdabbott.com for additional details.

Workshop cost includes:

• Four days of instruction led by industry professionals with decades of silicone knowledge
• All training materials
• Beverages, snacks, and lunch during each training day

Out-of-town registrants will be responsible for their own lodging and airport transportation needs.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with all the pertinent workshop details, as well as your invoice with payment information.

Register Now!

IMPORTANT NOTES: Your registration is not reserved until full payment is received. You must complete the entire registration form, including the payment tab, to secure your spot. If you have any questions, please contact Ariana Marich at ariana.marich@rdabbott.com. This event is only open to non-competitive companies. Therefore, we reserve the right to decline certain registrations at our discretion.

All out-of-town registrants will be responsible for their own lodging and transportation needs. For a list of recommended airports, hotels, and restaurants near our training facilities, please follow this link: https://rdabbott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Local-Guide_Barberton_2025.pdf

 

If you have any questions, please contact Ariana Marich at ariana.marich@rdabbott.com or 234.255.5893.